“I hadn’t fished at all over the past two months,” said Blankenship. “I was going to fish Thursday and Friday, but the weather was changing so much. I didn’t want to get into a rut of where the fish were the day before, so I chose not to pre-fish.

“My day started out a little slow,” Blankenship continued. “I caught one early, but then it really slowed down for me. I was fishing deep brush piles in about 20 feet of water. At about 11 a.m. I pulled up on one brush pile and caught four fish very quick on back-to-back casts, all on a Fish Head Spin with a Zoom Fluke trailer in albino color. I fished around in the area after that and caught several other keepers, but was only able to cull up by a few ounces.

“That’s when I decided to leave there and went up the lake to fish some muddy water,” Blankenship went on to say. “I caught one on a dock that went about 3 ½ pounds on a black and blue jig. This was crucial to my victory, as I was able to cull and upgrade my catch by almost 2 pounds. I thought my bag would have been top 5 or maybe even top 10, but I really didn’t think it would be enough to win. I guess it was a lot tougher of a day than I had thought.”

The next BFL North Carolina Division tournament is scheduled for March 16 on Jordan Lake in Sanford, N.C. After the final divisional tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Oct. 10-12 Regional Championship on Lake Lanier in Gainesville, Ga. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy Silverado, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518 with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard.